


Change You (Frerard)

by superwholock_girl



Category: Black Veil Brides, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Abusive Parents, Angst, Black Parade Gerard Way, Bottom Gerard Way, Emo, Gerard Way is a Sweetheart, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Insanity, Killer Frank Iero, M/M, My Chemical Romance References, Piano, Psychological Torture, Psychopath Frank Iero, Serial Killers, Smut, Top Frank Iero, White haired Gerard Way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:09:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 20,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28935321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superwholock_girl/pseuds/superwholock_girl
Summary: Gerard Way, 17, is pure and kind. Too kind. He prefers suffering than making others suffer. He wouldn't harm a fly and would do anything to protect his little brother and the ones he loves.Frank Iero, 20, is sadistic and murderous. There is nothing more annoying for him than kind people.When Frank comes across this lamblike boy, all he can think about is killing him. But what happens when Frank discovers that Gerard doesn't have this perfect, peaceful life he thought he had?What if Frank decides to save him... In his own sick way?
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way, Mikey Way/Pete Wentz, Ryan Ross/Brendon Urie
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25
Collections: Depressed 3 AM Frerard Fics, Frerard, Frerard Fics





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my duckies :)
> 
> Some of you might know me from Wattpad (@superwholock-girl) so if you prefer this platform you might wanna check out my account because I'll just be basically copy-pasting my books to AO3.
> 
> I hope you'll like this frerard <3
> 
> /!\ trigger warning /!\ torture, death, hallucinations, smut (not in that order)

Gerard woke up early, as usual.

He didn't sleep much. Today was Saturday, and he was going to see his friends at their favorite meeting point : the cafe near Gerard's house.

He put his black skinny jeans on, along with a grey Misfits t-shirt, a random jacket and his black Converses. Then he combed his hair a little with his fingers.

He knocked on Mikey's door before silently opening it and stepping into the room. Mikey was still asleep. _Aww_ , he thought, admiring the stack of sheets and blankets that his brother had turned into. He was so adorable Gerard didn't want to wake him, but he had to. He knew how happy he would be to see Ryan again.

Ryan was Mikey's best friend, and they hadn't seen each other in a while since he went on a roadtrip with his boyfriend, Brendon. But now that they were back, Gerard had the opportunity to see all the people closest to him at the same time, and he couldn't wait.

He softly stroke his brother's hair, hoping that he would wake up. He didn't. Then he began to shake him a bit. "Mikey" he whisper-yelled. Nothing.

" _MIKEY_ "

"THE UNICORNS MADE ME DO IT !" Mikey suddenly straightened up, and both gave each other a confused look.

"What?"

"What?" Mikey repeated.

"Ugh what time is it? Why are you all dressed up? You have a date or something?" he said, putting his glasses on.

Gerard blushed lightly, looking down. He doesn't date. He was too scared to. What if the other person doesn't like him? And what if he was annoying? What if--

"Hey Gee, it's okay." Mikey interrupted his thoughts.

Gerard softly giggled at the nickname. He loved it. _What a cinnamon roll_. The smallests details and pet names could make him appreciate anybody, really.

"C'mon Mikes, today is Saturday, remember?"

"Oh shit"

"Yeah."

"Okay let me put something on, I can't walk there in a unicorn onesie..."

As they walked downstairs, Mikey whispered to Gerard's ear : "Is dad -"

"No, he's asleep," Gerard interrupted.

"Hush, you know what happens when we wake him up."

______

They came in the cafe and a short chubby boy with caramel blond hair welcomed them.

"Patrick! I missed you" Gerard said, hugging him tightly. He liked him dearly.

"You saw me yesterday, at school..."

"Does it matter?"

The three of them sat at a table where Ray, Ryan and Brendon were waiting.

"RYRO" Gerard practically tackled Ryan with a hug. He had missed him so much!

"Hey, he's _my_ boyfriend, don't forget that" Brendon pouted, giving Ryan a kiss.

"I missed you too, Breadbin", Gerard sassed with a chuckle.

"You too, Fro" he tousled Ray's marvellous hair.

Mikey internally awed, his brother was so innocent and joyful. How could he be like that after _everything_ they had been through?

His gaze landed on a quite short man sitting at the counter. He was looking at the small group. Were they being too noisy?

"Hey guys, you might wanna speak in lower voice, I think we're bothering people".

"Boo, Mikey, such a killjoy. Relax !" Brendon teased.

"N-no, I think he's right, we should calm down" Gerard stuttered. The mere idea of bothering anyone made him uncomfortable and feel mean.

He looked around, and his eyes met the stranger's. He was staring at him. Gerard looked down, embarrassed. Did he have something on his face? Why was the man staring like that? Gerard started asking himself all kinds of questions that he couldn't answer, when Ray poked his cheek, handing him a cup of coffee.

"You know me too well." Gerard grinned. He started sipping the hot beverage.

"I gotta go use the bathroom" he mumbled. But Gerard didn't see the man that was walking there as well.

He bumped into his chest... and spilt all his coffee on him.

"I-oh g-god, I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..." he stuttered, mentally scolding himself for being so clumsy.

"It's okay..."

"N-no, it's- it's not! ", Gerard looked at him with wide, watery eyes. His lower lip quivered. He was so dumb, why couldn't he watch his steps?!

The stranger had beautiful hazel eyes like his own, but a bit more golden, and he was hefty enough to crush Gerard like a bug if he wanted to. He frowned. "Don't look at me like that."

Gerard kept staring confusedly, tilting his head. What? What did he say? What did he do? "I'm sorry..."

The man clenched his fists, but of course Gerard couldn't see that.

Gerard's heart skipped a beat. The man didn't look upset or annoyed. He looked _angry_. The 'I'm-about-to-punch-you' kind of angry. Gerard knew that look too well, he had seen it too many times before.

He slowly stepped back, and the man seemed to come to his senses and hurried out the cafe.

_Well, that was odd..._


	2. Chapter 2

Frank stormed out of the cafe as fast as he could. He knew that if he hadn't, he would have done something _bad_.

That boy he met - well, ran into - really got on his nerves. Not that he minded being stared at by those pretty green-hazel eyes of his, not that he cared about the now cold stain of coffee on his shirt, no.

It was the way the boy had looked at him. Those big doe eyes feeling _so sorry_ for him.

Frank couldn't stand that. He didn't want any pity, from anyone. He had seen this glint of kindness in someone's eyes before. _His own._

And he never wanted to see that, ever again.

As he walked away, he started thinking about how the boy apologized multiple times, bending over backwards... God it made him want to yell at him.

No.

It made him want to _hurt him._

So badly.

It wouldn't be the first time Frank gave in to his murderous urges. He knew what he had to do. He knew that his mind wouldn't be in peace as long as this boy was still breathing.

He had no problem with the boy being happy, really. Hell, himself was more than happy with his own... Business. What he hated was his kindness. His life must be so perfect for him to be this innocent.

Frank watched him during his little reunion with his friends. He was so carefree... He was weak.

 _Not a big loss_ , he thought. _He would've died pretty quickly in that world of animals and motherfuckers anyway. He trusts too easily. He is a victim, a prey; and predators like me can sense that._

______

Frank went home. His house wasn't big or fancy, but it was perfectly adapted for his little hobby. All the windows were barred and every door had a lock on them. The house was a maze.

He gathered all his stuff and got ready. Ketamine filled syringes, handcuffs, gag, blindfold, _handgun_. Everything to make sure that the boy didn't escape.

He stuffed all of it in a bag, except the gun which he tucked in his belt.

Then he went back to the cafe, hoping that someone there could give him an address. If they didn't, he would have to employ other measures that involved his gun, and he was too tired for that.

It was getting late, and Frank was surprised to see the raven-haired boy coming out of the cafe with a lanky, taller boy. _This is my lucky day_ , he thought.

Frank followed discreetly the two brothers home and sneaked into the backyard. He climbed up a tree and patiently waited for the boy to go to what he guessed was his room to fall asleep.

Frank knew that in a few moments everything would be over for him. He would never wake again. Frank smiled at the thought, picturing the boy helplessly choking on his own blood.

From the branch where he was hiding on, he could hear and see everything. And he witnessed something he thought he never would.

______

**~A few hours earlier~**

Gerard and Mikey got out of the cafe, shortly after all their friends left.

"Shit, it's dark. What time is it?"

"8 pm"

"What?!"

"It's January Gee..."

"No, I mean, _what_? We really spent like, 5 hours there?"

"Apparently." Mikey shrugged. "Let's go home, we don't want dad to be angrier than he probably already is".

Gerard gulped painfully. He didn't want to face his father. He knew what was going to happen. It always ended the same way.

They opened the front door as quietly as they could and stepped in.

"Shh, maybe he's asl-"

"YOU TWO"

"Oh fuck..."

Their father flew at them, his breath stinking cheap alcohol. He's been drinking again.

"Where were you?" he asked Mikey.

"We-" Gerard started. No way he was letting Mikey take the blame.

"You shut up, fucking faggot, I'm not talking to you", he replied, slapping his son.

When his father had found out about his son's sexuality, he had started favoring Mikey which only made the lanky boy hate him more. It was just so unfair.

"You motherf-" Mikey started.

"Mikey no." Gerard cut. "Go hide in your room, I'll hold him back" he looked at his brother with watery eyes.

"What do you mean 'you'll hold me back'? Come here you fucking wreckage," their dad seethed, grasping Gerard's shirt.

"JUST GO" he shouted at Mikey who did as told, both ignoring their father.

He held Gerard so his feet couldn't touch the floor.

 _You won't hurt Mikey_ , he thought as his father resumed slapping him violently. _It's worth it._

RHis father then threw him on the floor, kicking him in the ribs a few times.

"Go to your room. I don't want to see you, fag" he spat.

Gerard scampered off to Mikey's room, holding his aching cheeks and stomach. He felt tears streaming down them, mixing with the blood that was seeping from his nose, he couldn't help it - he had always been a crybaby.

He stormed in his brother's room and locked the door. Mikey was nowhere to be seen, so Gerard started panicking, until he heard a soft whimper coming from the bed. He looked underneath it and found Mikey, curled into a ball, crying.

"Hey Mikey..." He began, smiling weakly when his brother threw himself into Gerard's arms. He winced in pain and petted Mikey's hair. Feeling him in his arms, safe and warm was all that mattered.

"Gee... Why? Why do you protect me like that?" he sobbed.

"I-I'm okay Mikey," he hiccupped with a smile, ignoring the question. "Really."

Gerard did because he knew that if he ducked out, his father would fall back on Mikey. And Gerard couldn't bear it.

"Shh... You're safe now. I'm here, and I won't let him touch a hair on your head".

 _Even if that means me dying_ , he thought.

______

Frank had witnessed it all, from the beginning till the end. But he didn't budge.

"Well, that was quite a little drama..." He smiled amusedly.

Truth is, he was genuinely surprised. He didn't know why, but he had pictured the hazel-eyed boy with a loving family. But this was far from a peaceful, apple pie life.

 _Interesting_.

Obviously, the boy didn't know the half of the abuse, it was nothing compared to- ... It was nothing. But it was _something_.

Frank started overthinking. What he did for his brother was very brave. The boy was very brave. More than Frank had thought in the first place.

But why would he bother saving others when he could save himself first? Why didn't he fight back? In his position, Frank would have killed his father gruesomely.

No one could harm him or upset him without reprisals. Was he narcissistic? Did he have some kind of... God complex? Maybe. Honestly, he didn't know and he didn't care, as long as he _felt sane._

Anyway, that boy _had_ to _learn_ not to sacrifice himself for the others.

And at this thought, Frank knew he came up with a brilliant idea. Probably the best in his life.

There was going to be some changing of plans.


	3. Chapter 3

Frank spotted an open window on the first floor and climbed in.

_This is too easy._

He landed in a room which walls were covered in band posters. The Misfits, the Smashing Pumpkins, Bon Jovi and many others.

Frank smirked. The boy's bedroom. It was empty, so no struggle was to be expected for now.

He hid in a big closet, preparing the syringe and waiting for the boy to go to bed. Once again he could hear and see everything that was happening through the closet's louvers. He knew exactly what he was doing.

While waiting, his gaze landed on a metallic door across the boy's room.

_Another closet? With an iron door?_

The keys were still on the padlock, and Frank couldn't help but to go out and open it.

It wasn't a closet. It was a door to a quite large, dark room, and when his eyes got used to the gloom surrounding him, Frank detected a darker mass in the middle of it. He picked up his flashlight from his bag and turned it on.

A magnificent varnished piano had pride place in the middle of the room. A scarlet rose was on a crystal vase at the top of it. The piano was dusty but the rose was fresh.

The piano was black and wooden, and must cost more than the rest of the house.

He came near it. _A Steinway_. Frank gasped. How could such a precious artifact land in a teenager's room? Did it belong to him? He looked closer and saw letters carved on it.

" _D.W_." Frank whispered, running his fingers across the black wood.

Normally, Frank's mind would have wandered for hours, making hypotheses about the whole situation to solve that mystery.

 _Why is there such an ominous room next to the boy's? Why is the piano untouched? What the hell does 'D.W' mean?..._ , Frank overthought.

But Frank knew he didn't have time for this, that the boy could go back to his bedroom at any moment; so he quietly got back to the bedroom, letting the door closed as it was when he came.

______

"Gee?"

"Hmm?"

"Ever thought of running away?"

Both brothers had calmed down and were now lying on Mikey's bed, Gerard rocking him back and forth soothingly.

But that one sentence got Gerard tensed up again, and he stopped the motion.

"I-I don't know... Maybe..." Gerard mumbled, looking down as he was ashamed.

"I'm sure you have. Why don't we.. run away? I mean, together. I know this is a lot to ask but we can't live that way... Maybe we can live at Patrick's, he's so nice and you've known him in like, forever, he won't mind."

"Mikey, I don't think I can..."

"Why not?"

"Because... That would hurt him." he said quietly.

"Who? Dad? Are you kidding? Look what he did to us. To _you_." He sat up. "You more than anyone should be outraged. You're always the one to be beaten. You don't deserve that ! Why are you so forgiving ?!"

"Mikey, he- I can't say he loves us, but he cares about us in his own way and I know he would feel heartbroken if we left, especially you. I don't want to hurt him, we're all he has. Believe me, I want this to stop, but running away from our problems is not a way to solve them".

"But doing nothing is not a way either ! I'm trying to figure something out and you're telling me that you prefer him beating the shit out of you, rather than what... making him sad ?" Mikey mocked in disbelief.

"Yes."

And with that one word, Gerard walked away to his room, leaving his brother in shock.

______

 _His brother is right, he's too forgiving,_ Frank thought.

This part of him really needed to die, and Frank was the only one who could help with that.

Why couldn't the boy -'Gee'- listen to his brother?

 _If Gee doesn't listen to him, he definitely won't listen to me,_ Frank admitted to himself. But he was fine with using the hard way. He had intended to use it no matter what from the start.

Because he _enjoyed it._

No matter how obsessed Frank was with helping him, he still wanted to make him suffer. Besides, hurting and helping were synonyms in Frank's vocabulary. Torture was a training, death was a relief. From the second he saw Gee, Frank wanted to hurt him, to make him bleed.

Frank himself couldn't explain it. Somehow, Gee got on his nerves, but Frank also saw potential in him. The boy was different, Frank could tell.

While waiting for Gee, Frank closed his eyes and imagined him, his face covered in his own blood, screaming out of pain and fear.

Frank found begging obnoxious - like crying and begging for one's own pathetic life could stop him. Ridiculous. It lacked dignity.

But screams were just _delightful_ , almost as much as the look of fear and despair in his victims' eyes. Frank loved being feared.

All kinds of death gurgling were annoying because they were pathetic.

But screams were music to his ears. To Frank, one could scream their lungs out and keep their dignity. But what really impressed Frank was staying defiant while being hurt and take the pain silently. That was real strength.

That's it. For Frank, everything was a matter of _dignity, strength and control._

Frank kept imagining Gee with a thousand cuts, and all that he could use to torture him and break him in all the possible ways.

He interrupted his thoughts when he heard a creak, coming from the wooden door opening. He was silently exulting while watching Gee enter the dark room, yawning.

_Gee... What an odd name. It almost sounds... feminine._

Gee took his shirt off before going to sleep, and Frank felt his face heating up. He looked away.

He had such a high opinion of himself, he really didn't want to consider himself as a voyeur. Sociopath, yes, but not a voyeur. Besides, he didn't see anything wrong with being a sociopath. It made him stronger. It made him who he was.

Frank patiently waited a few hours to be sure Gee was asleep.

_We never know, maybe he's insomniac or some shit. It'd be simple if I could avoid any kind of fight._

Frank had learnt to be patient through the years, that was one of his best assets, along with being a control maniac - which was useful for someone like him.

Frank quietly crept out of the closet and tiptoed closer to the bed. He hoovered over Gee, studying the soft features of the chubby boy. He could see Gee's chest rise and fall slowly as he breathed.

This was one of his favorite parts - being in control like that, seeing the boy sleeping peacefully, with no idea of what was going to happen to him. He could spend hours above Gee's bed, like a threatening shadow above him.

Frank could do anything he wanted to him. His mind got once again carried away. He could stab him in the chest, multiple times, right then and there. He could ravish him. He could slice his throat. He could strangle him or choke him with a pillow. All these possibilities were making Frank pleasingly dizzy.

But he wasn't going to do any of that; he had other, _greater_ _plans_.

Frank delicately lifted the sheets on his neck and upper torso, uncovering greenish bruises that were fading away.

 _Old bruises_. Frank smiled to himself.

_I was right, this kid is strong, and definitly capable of great things. He's been through a lot._

_Why hasn't he snapped yet?_

_Well, this will be an amusing challenge breaking him. I'm going to enjoy this._

He took the syringe out of his back pocket, tilted Gee's head slightly to get a better angle at his neck.

And he stung him, quickly injecting the Ketamine.

Gerard awoke right away, gasping at the sharp pain coming from the side of his neck. He wanted to squeal, call for help, but a strong hand was firmly pressed to his mouth. His heart was racing in his chest and he was on the verge of crying.

But soon, his neck wasn't hurting anymore, but he could feel an unstoppable numbness spread like wildfire through his entire body.

He was forcefully driven back into slumber and everything went black around him as he felt himself fall off the bed and into the stranger's tattooed arms.


	4. Chapter 4

Gee passed out in Frank's arms, and the latter picked him up bridal style. Frank carried him out as quietly as he could, taking care not to bump his head on the walls in the hallway.

Frank managed to put a strand of hair behind the boy's ear to get a better look at his face. He was less annoying when he was sleeping.

He looked at the boy, his slightly parted lips, his rosy cheeks, his pale skin, admiring his features in his deep, dreamless sleep.

Frank definitely wasn't going to cut up this part of him. Not too much.

It was the middle of the night, and everyone was asleep. Frank could hear Gee's father snoring on the couch. _What a disgusting pig,_ Frank thought. The man reminded him of his own father.

For a split second, he wished he wasn't carrying Gee just to be able to slice his father's throat. But a beginning of plan was developing in the killer's mind and he decided to leave Gee's father alone. For now.

Frank got out without any incident, and laid the limp body on the backseat of his car, handcuffing him as a precaution, even though he would be asleep for at least ten hours now.

He drove away, heading home. They arrived at dawn and Frank settled Gee in his... _room_.

He had no time to waste. He wanted everything to be perfectly operational and efficient when the boy woke up.

Frank was too rushed and he knew that. He should've watched the boy longer, get to know him, his life, his habits. Everything. He didn't know anything about the boy and that deeply disturbed him. After all, knowledge is control, and control is power.

Guess he was just going to go without any clue and do what he does best : hurting people.

Frank knew a lot about torture. He had read about it a lot. He had seen it. Done it. Lived it.

What he preferred though was killing. That last desperate look his victims gave him before their souls escaped their bodies, leaving nothing but an empty shell? It gave him such a rush. It was priceless.

It got to the point where it became a physical requirement for him. He needed to kill. And his ultimate goal was to make Gee like him. Turn him into a killer.

Frank didn't care about him or his mental state at all, he was just adoring the idea of breaking him and corrupting him.

Well, he wouldn't call it corruption. It was too pejorative, it implied that what he was doing was wrong. But Frank was convinced that all of it was right.

He never really bothered torturing his victims. According to him, it was pointless and a waste of time. But now he really wanted to give it a shot. Do an experiment. And the black-haired boy in his basement gave him the chance to try something new, and now he could see the point of torturing.

Torture changes people.

And Frank selected the most sadistic ways to make him suffer. Among those, the worst of them all : psychological torture. He loved it, he could never know how one would react to it, it was kind of random. But he was certain that Gee could overcome that; otherwise he would just drown.

Frank had found a way to make his misery _permanent_ , without even laying a finger on him.

Of course, he was well-aware of the fact that he would get bored pretty quick, so he also prepared funnier toys. He couldn't wait.

______

When Mikey woke up the next morning , the first thing he did was check on Gerard. Their previous conversation had left the raven-haired boy a bit upset so Mikey went to make sure he was okay and knocked on his door.

Once. Twice. No response.

He entered the room and obviously, it was empty. So he started looking for his brother all over the house, even in the most unlikely places, still in his Bat-pajamas, confusing his hangovered father in the process. He hadn't even noticed that his son was gone, then again Mikey hadn't expected him to.

Gerard was nowhere to be found.

Mikey got back to his room and came to a conclusion.

His brother had run away. _Without him._

He didn't even say goodbye. How could he have done that to him? Mikey was the one who had suggested it in the first place, so why would his own brother let him down and abandon him like that?

But something was odd about all of this. Yesterday, Gerard didn't want to go and now he just vanished?

Maybe Mikey was being paranoid. Maybe Gerard just wanted to disappear for a while and be alone, Mikey couldn't blame him for that.

He decided he would just wait to hear from Gerard before doing anything rushed.

And he waited. For days.

He didn't hear anything from Gerard, not even a phonecall. It was abnormal. The whole situation was, and Mikey knew it.

As the days passed, he grew more and more worried. He didn't know what to do, so he did the only thing a 15 yers-old could do in this kind of situation.

He went to the police.

______

At the police station, Mikey was welcomed by a shorter, yet older man with tanned skin who was carrying a ton of paperwork.

"H-hi? Uh.." Mikey began, stuttering. Talking to people wasn't really his trong suit.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

"Well, I don't really know... I'd like to report a missing person... Kind of..." Mikey babbled, unsure of himself.

"What do you mean 'kind of'?"

"Well, I don't- I think something happened to my brother and it might be bad, but maybe he just ran off..."

The man raised an eyebrow as to tell him to keep going.

"We... Were talking about running away together about a week ago," Mikey explained, looking down shamefully. "And the day after, he was just... Gone. I know how ridiculous this sounds, but he wouldn't leave like that and without giving me news, he is the sweetest dude ever".

The man peered at him as to tell if all of this was just a stupid teenage prank, but all he could see in Mikey's eyes was honesty and concern.

"Well, I'd say he ran away... What makes you think otherwise?"

"Well first, I'm the one who actually suggested it when we talked about it, and Gerard - my brother -, h-he was against it."

The more Mikey thought about it, the more he was sure of his theory. Something was bothering him, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Then it hit him.

"He didn't pack anything. No clothes were missing in his closet, and he didn't take any food with him. Who does that?"

The man frowned; that was indeed very unusual. Runaway kids generally pack enough stuff to sustain themselves for weeks. This was a serious matter, probably an abduction.

"Come on, I'll get you the report. I'll help you fill it."

"Thanks, mister..?"

"Pete. You can call me Pete."

______

After they were done, Mikey was about to leave when he felt his wrist being grabbed. It was Pete.

"Hey... I thought about what you said earlier... I think you might be right. Something may have happened to your brother."

Mikey hold his breath. He didn't know if he should be relieved or even more anxious at Pete's statement.

"You should probably talk to the detective about all that. She's a very busy woman but I'm sure she'll listen if I can get you in."

"You would do that?"

"Yeah, sure" Pete blushed and looked down.

He led Mikey in a room where he told him to wait before leaving. After a few minutes he came back and asked Mikey to follow him, and knocked at an office's wooden door.

"Mikey, this is detective Ballato."

They shook hands.

"Please take a seat and tell me all about your brother's disappearance" the black-haired woman said. "I also need you to tell me basic information such as his full name, physical description,..."

Mikey did as told.

"And what about his habits? What kind of person is Gerard?"

Mikey just repeated what he told Pete :"he is very kind, too much if you ask me... Our father, he-" He bit his lips.

"Hey," Pete reached out for Mikey's hand. "It's okay Mikey. Nothing to be ashamed of."

"Our father he... he's abusive. He never laid a hand on me, but I only owe that to Gerard. He always protected me. The worst thing is that he always reassured me afterwards when he clearly needed it more than me. Gosh I'm such an awful brother."

"Don't say that. From what you're telling me, your brother loves you very much. I think you and Pete are right. He might have been abducted. I'll get my men on this."

"Thank you, detective."

**...**

"Pete, I wanted to thank you for what you did for me earlier" Mikey said as they were both leaving the station.

"Don't mention it my dude, it was nothing."

"Yeah but you didn't have to... So thanks. Hum... so you work here?"

"Kind of, I'm 19 so I'm only an intern. My dad works here. I want to become a police officer and help people, just like him" Pete confided.

Mikey giggled. He wanted to be a policeman too when he was younger, but then he realized that it was only a kid fantasy.

That made him think of Gerard. Gerard wanted to be a pianist.

No wonder he wanted to keep _her_ piano.

And that thought only made him sad, which Pete noticed.

"Hey, don't worry, Lindsey's the best, she'll find him. I'll keep you updated, okay?"

He awkwardly pulled him into a hug before Mikey thanked him once again and left.


	5. Chapter 5

Gerard's eyes fluttered as he slowly woke up. He opened them but immediately shut them because of the bright light assaulting him. He was in a sitting position, so he wasn't in his bed. He wasn't even in his bedroom.

_What the hell?_

His head was awfully aching, like he was being stabbed multiple times in his skull. He tried to stretch himself to take the numbness away and reach out for his face but he couldn't. His ankles were restrained by what he could guess were handcuffs, as well as his wrists which were parted from his sides.

Gerard started worrying and his breaths grew more unsteady. He looked like a deer in the headlights, that's the least we could say with his terrified look and all the spots on him.

The chair he was on was quite comfortable - all white - and made him think of the ones you could see at the dentist's, but with large parted armrests.

After a few minutes to accustom himself to the blinding light, Gerard managed to take a look at his surroundings.

He was in a fully white room. _Everything was white._

The room was empty and square, and Gerard was in the middle of it. The walls were padded, like in psychiatric ward, and the floor was tiled. Gerard didn't see any door, maybe it was behind him or somewhere he couldn't see. Gerard saw a little white camera at a top corner of the room.

_Wait, am I being watched?_

Gerard felt sick. What kind of pervert could to that? That was so... so twisted! At least he was wearing a shirt - which was very odd because when he had fallen asleep, _he hadn't been wearing one._

Gerard's breath quickened and panick rose inside of him as he came to a conclusion. Someone had taken him.

Gerard looked at the camera, and a few minutes later, the door embedded in the wall in front of him opened, and a man walked in.

Gerard couldn't see clearly yet, and that definitely wasn't solely due to the lights, he could feel it. This dizziness wasn't normal. All he could process for now was that the man was dressed all in white : his shirt, his pants and even his boots. He wasn't very tall - about his height, maybe - but robust, muscular, and Gerard had some serious feeling of deja vu.

Gerard tried to focus on his face but it was blurred, and he still felt very light-headed.

"Well, hello there!" the man spoke in an almost endearing tone and came closer.

"W-Where... Wh- I... Y-You-..." Gerard babbled. He was trying his best but he couldn't utter a proper word; words just wouldn't come out.

The man tutted. "Nuh-uh. Don't try to speak. You can't for now with what I injected you. Don't worry, it's not gonna last much longer."

Wait, what did he mean by that? What did he inject him with? Gerard weakly groaned. His head was still hurting and he hard hard time asking himself all these questions.

His eyes landed on the man's heavily tattooed arms and his memories hit him like a ton of bricks.

_Saturday morning. The café. The stranger. Home. A fight. Pain. Blackout._

"You... t-the man... f-from yes...terday?" Gerard tried hard to form words but his mind felt so wooly, along with his mouth and all of his limbs.

"I am" the man smiled. "Nice to see you remember me. You can call me Frank. Now, do you know why you're here, Gee?"

Gerard paled and his heart skipped a beat. _How the hell does he know my name? How long has he been observing me?_

The more time he was spending in this room, the more anxious he was growing. He couldn't exactly tell why; Frank wasn't acting aggressively and the lights were kind of comforting since he was afraid of the dark, but something at the back of his mind was yelling 'run'.

"You- You can't call me that... M-my name's Gerard." he boldly tried.

Frank let out a small chuckle. "Well, _Gerard_ , I don't think you're in position to make requests. But whatever. You didn't answer my question. Why do you think you're here?"

Gerard took the time to think, and didn't find anything plausible to answer, but something in his mind told him he had to say something anyway, that this Frank guy, despite sounding nice and calm, really wasn't someone to upset.

"The... C-coffee?"

"The one you spread on me?"

Gerard nodded sheepishly, not daring to make eye-contact, and Frank mentally-facepalmed. Did Gerard really think he bothered doing all of this just for a stain on his shirt? He really was clueless.

He couldn't see the larger picture yet, but Frank couldn't tell him. He knew that a little heart to heart wouldn't work; Gerard had to understand it all by himself. Frank could only drop hints and clues to lead him through this path, to his breaking point.

"You'll figure out soon," Frank simply replied.

Gerard suddenly had a nasty feeling about the whole situation. What if Frank was going to hurt him?

 _That's ridiculous,_ he thought _. Why would he do that? He has no reason to._

Then he remembered the cuffs on his wrists and ankles and started pulling them. He wanted to go home, see Mikey again.

Frank tutted. "Stop stiring, you're only gonna harm yourself. And _I'm the only one who's allowed to do that_."

And with this sentence Gerard started panicking and jerked his limbs, whimpering. But despite his desperate tugging, Gerard's limbs barely budged as the cuffs were very tight.

"Hey, stop it!" Frank gripped his arms. "You're not going anywhere, baby boy. And to make sure of that..."

He let go of Gerard's arms and circumvented the chair to go at the back of the room where Gerard couldn't see.

He heard Frank pick something up, something _heavy_ and _metallic_.

A _hammer_.

He came closer to Gerard with a sadistic grin on his face. Gerard only had a vague idea of what he wanted to do with it, but in any case, that couldn't be good.

"W-wait, no stop, I'm s-sorry, I-I'll be good, I promise." Gerard whimpered.

Frank ignored him and bludgeoned his knee, breaking it. Gerard screamed and immediately started crying.

"Y-You d-don't have to do this... P-please stop.. Oh G-God..." he sniffled.

Gerard's begging only made Frank angrier, and he broke his other knee. Gerard resumed screaming.

"That's enough for today I think. Sleep tight." Frank said, ruffling Gerard's hair, before pushing the backrest of Gerard's seat. The seat shifted into a more oblique position, almost lying.

 _Sleep tight? What time is it?_ Gerard didn't feel tired at all, he had just slept 12 hours in a row.

It was in fact 8 pm, but Gerard couldn't know that. Frank intended to mess up with his sleeping patterns, it was all a part of his plan.

"Oh, and don't even think about calling for help, the walls are perfectly soundproof. No one can hear you, and you can't hear anything from here."

Frank turned the lights off and left, leaving Gerard with an excruciating pain in his legs. Gerard started crying from the agonizing pain and his terrible fear of the dark.

Everything went silent, apart from Gerard's little whimpers in a dark pool of void and loneliness.


	6. Chapter 6

Gerard didn't sleep a lot : the sharp pain in his knees kept him awake almost all night long.

He was yawning when Frank came back. Frank turned the lights on and Gerard noticed that he couldn't really tell if it was in the morning or the afternoon.

Frank just went to the back of the room, picking stuff without saying a word. Gerard could only hear metallic clicking behind him, but not the same as the hammer. The hammer produced a heavy thud when being moved or picked up,so these were probably smaller objects.

"How much do you know about China?" Frank eventually spoke, breaking the silence. He was still out of Gerard's sight.

"Uh... I like a good Chinese..." Gerard frowned.

"No, I mean, about its culture and traditions."

"I- uh, know some really basic stuff, not much." Gerard replied, unsure of what Frank's point was. Actually, he had a thousand questions to ask but he was far too scared to.

"So I guess you haven't heard about Lingchi."

"Litchi? Isn't that a fruit? I-I don't really like it."

Frank sighed. He couldn't help but smile a little. " _Lingchi_ " he corrected. "And no, it's not a fruit. But trust me, you're not gonna like it either."

He faced Gerard who was still in a lying position, with different knives and blades in his hands. "Time for you to learn stuff." he said while he was disposing his tools on a (white) tray near the boy.

"Lingchi means 'death by a thousand cuts' and was used in China until the 20th century as a form of public humiliation, as a slow execution, or to mutilate a corpse as a punishment." Frank told while he was doing out the knives.

Gerard paled. That was just awful to hear. How could human beings do that to each others?

"Only a hundred were inflicted at first, but it is said that later on, it sometimes escalated to three thousands" Frank said like he was telling a gossip.

Gerard gulped. "W-why are you telling me all this?"

" _Guess_."

Gerard didn't need to. He perfectly understood where this was going.

He simply didn't want to believe it.

"Generally, it all ended with a good old-fashioned stabbing in the heart and sometimes dismemberment." Frank chuckled darkly.

Gerard turned paler, if that was even possible. He was beginning to look like the room he was held in.

"We won't take it that far though. I want you in one piece."

Gerard let out a discreet sigh of relief. He wasn't going to die, not today at least.

"They sometimes used opium on the condemned to enable the misery to last longer. But unfortunately I couldn't find any, so I got you morphine instead. Don't delude yourself, it's still gonna hurt like hell. End of the lesson, now it's time for practical."

He took a syringe and filled it with a transparent liquid; and walked towards Gerard, who started hyperventilating.

He was terrified of needles so when Frank came closer, he twitched and cried out, trying to get as far as possible from the oncoming syringe.

Frank raised a eyebrow. _Why is he screaming? I haven't done anything yet._

The needle. He was scared of the needle.

 _Well that's something I can exploit_ , he thought, mentally congratulating himself for finding Gerard's weak point so soon.

He grabbed Gerard's forearm and intruded the syringe in his veins, injecting the morphine he had mixed with a light dose of sedative, completely ignoring Gerard's annoying whimpers.

He watched Gerard relax a little because of the chemicals entering his bloodsteam.

Then he picked a small knife and went to Gerard's left side. He cut his cheek open, not deep enough to leave a scar but enough to make it bleed. Gerard winced.

Frank leaned forward and slowly licked the fresh wound and the blood that was oozing from it.

He adored the way Gerard was doing everything not to lose it, and above all how he squirmed a little under his tongue but stayed still because he couldn't move. Or maybe because he was just too scared to.

Frank got ho his ear. "You and I are gonna have _so much fun together_.." he whispered, grinning like a madman. Gerard shivered, trying really hard not to cry. He was completely paralyzed by fear.

Frank pulled back and selected a bigger blade and a pair of scissors. He had decided to spare Gerard's legs - his knees were injured enough. He cut up Gerard's shirt and took it off. Gerard felt his face turn slightly red, but not enough for Frank to see. At least he thought.

"You're gonna count every time I cut you, understood?" Frank demanded and Gerard nodded. "Good. Now be nice and bleed for me, would you?"

He started with Gerard's wrists, carefully avoiding to cut too deep; he didn't want him to bleed out to death.

"One. Two. _A-ahh._.. T-three. Four..."

**...**

Frank got to Gerard's pale torso. His belly skin was so tender and pleasant to peal.

"T-thirty tw-o... T-t-thirty three..." Gerard chocked out in a sob, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Frank didn't like his whining, but he didn't want Gerard to take the pain, he needed him to break completely in order to be stronger than ever afterwards. And if crying was his way to do it, then so be it. But as the time went on, the less tolerent Frank would be with him.

**...**

Frank ascended to his pectorals and collarbones.

"Sev...enty... eight.... Sev-eventy nine..." His wailing and counting grew quieter as his throat was now completely dry, unlike his eyes. "F-Frank? Why??"

 _Why_.

That's the only word echoing in Gerard's mind at the moment. 'Why this?', 'why me?' Why, why, why.

Frank stopped. He stared directly into Gerard's eyes.

"Because I can." he uttered very distinctly.

"B-but...w-why _me_?"

"Well, let's just say that I'm really bored and you happen to be really entertaining. Now keep counting if you don't want me to cut deeper and hurt you more," Frank growled and Gerard meekly obeyed.

______

When Gerard got to one hundred, Frank stopped and put the bloody knife down, and admired his work. Not a single inch of Gerard's skin above the waistband was scar-free or even blood-free.

Gerard was shaking all over and felt like his whole body was on fire. His broken knees were hurting him like hell, even when he didn't move. The pain was almost bearable though, probably due to the morphine that had started kicking in just a little while before.

Then he realized how hungry he was.

Luckily, Frank had seemed to hear his stomach protest. "I have a little something for you."

He left the room and came back with a tray of food. He raised the backrest so Gerard could eat and put the tray on Gerard's lap.

Gerard looked down. There was rice on a (white) paper plate and a glass of milk. Why was everything around him white? Another question in his mind that would probably also go unanswered.

To Gerard's surprise, Frank unshackled his wrists. Well, it's not like he was going anywhere with his broken knees, and his ankles were still cuffed anyway.

Gerard looked up at Frank to see if he could eat, and when he saw that Frank was serious and wasn't going to trick him in any way, he politely babbled a 'thank you' and started eating. Most of his cuts had stopped bleeding but were very uncomfortable and every one of his movements stung his limbs.

Frank stayed here the whole time, watching him eat. When Gerard finished, Frank took the plate and pushed the backrest down. He turned the lights off and left without a word, once again leaving Gerard alone with his pain and his despair.


	7. Chapter 7

Gerard began to lose the notion of time. He couldn't even tell if it was day or night. Everyday was always the same. Frank would come, torture Gerard then give him rice and milk. Always.

From time to time, Frank cleaned and disinfected his injuries and gave him clean clothes.

Sometimes he would come and hurt Gerard twice a day, sometimes for hours in a row. He would even come when Gerard was asleep, or he just wouldn't show up at all for what felt like days to Gerard. 

This completely messed up Gerard's sleep cycle, and despite the fact that he barely needed 8 hours of sleep per night, he was exhausted and utterly anxious all the time. 

His nerves couldn't take it anymore. When Frank was here, it was nothing but terrible pain for Gerard. When Frank was gone, he was all alone in the dark, in a bubble of loneliness, trapped with his fears. He hated this room he was held in. He was afraid of the dark, but now it got to the point that _he really began to be afraid of the light._

He barely managed to sleep a few hours at 'night', due to the dull pain constantly radiating throughout his body and the permanent stress. Sometimes, the mere sight of Frank would be enough to make him have a panic attack, causing him to hyperventilate and cry in anticipation of what was coming.

Everyday was the same. The only thing that changed was the way Frank tortured him. 

He would often cut Gerard or waterboard him, and sometimes peel his skin off. He had already broken three of his fingers and burnt his torso with cigarettes just because 'he was bored'. 

Gerard was weary both physically and mentally. He had tried to bargain and beg Frank countless times, but that didn't affect Frank at all. Actually, Gerard had learnt that begging was much of an aggravation for Frank.

The worst of it all was that Gerard had no idea of why Frank inflicted him this misery. 

•••

Today Frank came with a precise idea of what he would do. He avoided things that would permanently cripple Gerard such as finger cutting or teeth pulling. 

He didn't care about how much it hurt. In fact, the most interesting effects were the psychological ones. That's why he decided to exploit one of Gerard's fears.

"Hello Gerard! Did you sleep well?" Frank asked, knowing very well that Gerard hadn't.

He could, after all, watch the boy sleep whenever thanks to the surveillance cameras in the room.

"Uh, y-yes thanks..." Gerard looked down, feeling his eyes water.

_Go away. Please go away, leave me alone..._

"Hey, guess what? I found something the other day in my room." Frank took a purse out of his pocket and spread its content on the tray near Gerard.

Needles.

Gerard's eyes widened and he started having a panic attack, and wheezed.

"I hope you don't mind if I stick them into you?" Frank asked innocently with a smile.

Gerard couldn't reply, his eyes were locked on the needles on the tray. His breath quickened even more when Frank approached and firmly grasped his arm. Gerard wanted to disappear, melt into the ground, fly away far from all this. 

"NO! Please don't! Frank s-stop!" Gerard struggled like a devil, tugging on the cuffs with all his strength to cower away from Frank, injuring his own wrists.

Frank took a needle and slid it under Gerard's skin. Gerard let out a loud cry and immediatly started sobbing. He felt dizzy; the pain was unbearable, just like the sight of it. Imagine someone sliding a needle under your skin and making you watch it. 

Frank took another one and stabbed his arm multiple times with it as it was a tiny blade, causing blood to run down Gerard's arm. Frank planted the needle vertically in one of Gerard's veins. 

"Aaaah! P-please stop, please! I-I can't.. It h-hurts so much, oh G-God... P-please..." Gerard's voice broke. Tears were flowing from his eyes.

Frank only chuckled at the helpless boy and took another needle.

"P-please, I'll do anything... Whatever you want... Just- please m-make it stop..."

Frank let out a dark laughter at Gerard's naivety. He didn't care about what Gerard was offering, and his begging got on his nerves and made him want to plant the needle he was holding in his eye.

"Anything?" Frank raised an eyebrow amusedly.

Gerard hardly gulped and sheepishly nodded, terrified of what Frank might ask. But right now, he was open to anything to make the pain stop.

"Even killing someone?"

Gerard frowned, completely lost. That wasn't the request he was expecting. "W-what?"

Frank sighed. "Yeah, that's what I thought..." He stuck the needle he had in hand in Gerard's arm, making him scream his lungs out again.

After a few minutes Gerard looked like a voodoo doll. He felt sick, he wanted to throw up so bad. His blood-soaked arms were completely covered in needles that sharply stung everytime he contracted a muscle. 

"P-please kill me already..." he whimpered.

Frank wasn't sure of what he had heard. "What was that?"

"Kill me! Kill me now, please!!" Gerard begged louder, his eyes bloodshot from the tears.

Because that's how all of it would end. Killing him was Frank's final goal, wasn't it?

This request irritated Frank at the highest level. "What is wrong with you..." he let out, more as a comment to himself than a real question to Gerard.

Gerard was utterly stunned. _What is wrong with him? What the hell?_ He was not the one who had butchered him, enjoyed the sight of his blood flowing and the sound of his bones breaking.

If anybody was insane there, it was clearly Frank.

"No, really. What's wrong with you?" Frank repeated. "I've been torturing you for all this time and you just seem to accept it, to... _let it happen_. I'm fucking hurting you! How can you ask for death?! Get pissed!" he shoved Gerard's shoulder, making the boy wince in pain.

Gerard didn't reply. What could he possibly say?

"Not even once have I seen you look angry with me. You're not mad at me. You're _sorry_ for me."

At the moment Gerard indeed looked very sad, more than hateful. "No, I'm not mad at you. You're sick. I can't blame you" he said softly.

"And that's your problem! You don't blame anyone but yourself, when you should be blaming _everyone_ but yourself. Come on, don't you wanna punch me? Make me suffer?"

"Why though? To get what... Revenge?"

Gerard let out a little, joyless laughter.

Frank twitched in anger. "I find you _very_ _bold_ for someone who's restrained in a torture room. So tell me, what's so wrong with revenge?"

Gerard bit his lips and since Frank asked for it, he decided to speak his mind. "Revenge doesn't bring you peace, Frank. It feels good for a split second, but then it'll haunt you for the rest of your life."

Frank's face turned red. "Shut up, you don't even know what you're talking about."

"You're right, I don't. And I never want to." Gerard was now whispering. 

"You're such a stubborn bastard !" Frank seethed. He took a small needle and quickly pushed it under Gerard's nail, making him scream in pain. 

"I'm going to _cure you_ from your kindness." Frank spat and pulled his nail.

Gerard gasped and his teary eyes widened. The pain was so intense that he blacked out for a second. He quickly came back to reality.

"H-HELP ME!" Gerard suddenly yelled, his eyes wider than ever.

 _'Help me'?_ Frank was lost. Gerard had clearly expressed that he didn't want him to save him. Why was he calling for help now?

Then Frank noticed. Gerard wasn't looking at him. Gerard was looking _behind_ him. 

Frank's heart skipped a beat and he turned back, afraid that some random cop had found them. He frowned. 

There was _no one._

"Please... M-Mikey... Can't you see he's hurting me?" Gerard whimpered weakly.

_Mikey? His brother?_

"Gerard... Are you seeing Mikey right now?" Frank asked him, concern reverberating in his voice.

But Gerard didn't hear Frank. He was too far gone.

•••

Gerard wasn't in pain anymore, everything felt fuzzy. He didn't know why because Frank didn't drug him this time. Gerard had stopped asking himself all these questions.

Mikey was behind Frank, arms folded. "I'm sorry, I can't help you."

"W-why not?" Gerard asked.

"Because I'm not real."

"What do you mean 'you're not real'? Of course you are! I can see you!"

"It's not because you can see me that I'm here. I'm an hallucination. I think you're going crazy Gerard."

Mikey came next to a concerned looking Frank who had seemed to freeze in time. "He's going to kill you, you know that?" 

"No, no, I can't die, I want to leave."

"But you never will, will you." Mikey said, more as a statement than a question. "You've been here for so long..."

"W-What? How long??" 

Mikey only chuckled in answer.

"Tell me!" Gerard begged desperately.

"You're never going home Gerard. You're dying here. You'll never see the sun again. Or me."

Gerard shook his head, feeling tears well in his eyes. "I can't abandon you."

"Oh, but you already did, didn't you. You left me like I was worthless. You're as selfish as Frank. But you know what? I don't even care. I don't love you. You were just one miserable human shield. You are _nothing to me_." Mikey spat.

"No, t-that's impossible... You- w-why are you being so mean? You... You're not Mikey. The Mikey I know would never say such things to me."

"Guess people change" Mikey said casually, shrugging. "So can you, Gerard. And you will, I know it." 

"Just go away..." Gerard began crying softly. 

"Bye, _brother_." Mikey said before vanishing.

Gerard felt his face being grabbed. Frank.

•••

Frank didn't know what to think. Gerard had been babbling nonsense in low voice for the past two minutes, and now he started crying. 

_What the hell is going on?_

Frank grabbed Gerard's face and made him look a him. "Gerard, Mikey's not here..." he said, his voice warmer than he would've wanted. 

Gerard slowly looked up at him with empty puffy eyes. Frank sighed and took all the needles out of Gerard's arms one by one. The boy barely reacted, completely zoned out. Frank disinfected his arms, it would be unfortunate if Gerard's wounds became infected. Then he left without saying a word.

This night, Gerard cried himself to sleep. It wouldn't be the first time. 

Frank knew he had to let him recover, both physically and mentally. But he still needed to torture him in a way. Luckily he had the perfect solution. 

It was time for him to test the efficiency of his white room.


	8. Chapter 8

Mikey was worried sick about his brother who had been missing for so long now. He was more depressed these days, thinking about good old times with Gerard.

Pete and him were growing closer, and Mikey could always count on him when he felt down or if he just needed to talk.

Pete was very loyal and caring, and Mikey was wondering if Pete liked him as much as he did. Not just as a friend, but more than that.

Is everybody gay in this fic? Probably, yes. After all, it's not like it's a gay fic...

Right now, the two of them were lying and _friendly_ cuddling on the couch at Pete's, who was calming an emotional Mikey.

"Shh, it's okay Moikey. I'm sorry the cops had to stop investigating. But there was no evidence at your house and they didn't know where to look for him. They searched the whole town and they got nothing. Linsey thinks that whoever took your brother is a professional."

"So they're gonna ask a ransom or something?" Mikey asked, laying his head on Pete's chest, kind of disquieted about Pete's reaction - but Pete really didn't seem to mind so Mikey just stayed there, much to his gladness and gratitude.

"I don't think so, if that's what they wanted, they would already have."

"So it's hopeless..." Mikey felt his eyes water.

Pete shook his head. "I didn't say that."

"Yeah but it's the truth..."

"Don't lose hope, I'll find them alone if I have to."

"Thank you Pete, for always being here for me, for everything. Please... please don't leave me too..."

"Never." Pete said before kissing Mikey's cheek and pulling him in a hug. They eventually fell asleep on the couch.

______

Gerard woke up and flinched : Frank was near him, minding his own business. He hadn't heard him come in.

"Good morning sunshine" Frank greeted. It was really strange how endearing he could sound despite being so cruel and stone cold all the time.

There was a drip stand next to the bed.

Gerard knew a bit about that stuff, nurses had told him about it when he had stayed at the hospital because his father had broken Gerard's arm.

The right question now was : _why was it there?_

"Do you know what all of this is, Gerard?"

"It's materials for intravenous infusion."

"Exactly." Frank lightly ruffled his hair. "So, you know how it works."

"K-kinda... What is it for?"

"Feeding."

Gerard frowned. "B-but why?"

"Well, we don't want you to starve to death, huh?" Frank chuckled. "No more questions now."

_Starve to death? What? Is Frank leaving?_

Frank grabbed a plastic bag full of pristine liquid and hung it on the drip stand. Then he connected the long tube that was coming out of it to a cannula and took Gerard's arm and stung him with it, making a tiny hole in it.

Gerard looked away, afraid that even the sight of the needle would now be enough to make him throw up.

Frank took Gerard's handcuffs off. "Don't move" he growled. Gerard didn't budge.

Frank took thick gloves and put them on Gerard's hands. Then he tied him down : he placed straps around his chest, waist, biceps, thighs and even neck.

Frank took a gag and tried to it on Gerard's mouth. Gerard tried to cringe away, softly whimpering. He really didn't want to be gagged, but he couldn't turn his head too much without strangling himself with the strap around his neck. Frank put the gag on Gerard's mouth and tied it behind his neck without much difficulty.

"Good. Now I'm going to leave, try to think about what we discussed about the other day during this time off." Frank said before leaving, leaving all the bright lights on.

Gerard felt relieved. A time off. Finally he could rest a bit. He didn't understand the use of all the straps though. It's not like he was going anywhere with handcuffs, so why bother?

The first few hours were bless. Gerard took a nap and tried to think happy thoughts to cheer himself up.

As the time went by, Gerard understood the point of that room. He couldn't budge even a bit, no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't sense anything or feel anything.

He was trapped in his own body.

But this wasn't the worst thing. The silence was. It was deafening. And the loneliness was killing him.

Gerard couldn't speak or even hum with the gag tied so tightly. He could barely hear the muffled sound of his wailing. All the lights were blinding him and giving him migaines. All he could see was white, and all he could feel at all were his tears rolling down his cheeks, when he even managed to cry.

The plastic bag seemed to fill itself every night, if you could call it a night. Actually it was more when Gerard fell asleep - when he managed to do so - because he had no idea of when it was day or night at all.

Anyway, his feeding bag was always full. _Frank, probably,_ he thought. But if Frank was here, then why was he leaving him all alone like that? What was his goal?

This wasn't a time off, this was a punishment.

After what felt like a few weeks, Gerard began losing his memory. He could barely remember what colors looked like. The only ones he had had the chance to see since he was abducted were white and red. Blood red, like his own.

He was feeling so sick inside. He missed the sun, the rain, the summer heat, the feeling of the cool wind on his face, the cold bite of the snow in his hands, the sight of trees blossoming and the reddish leaves of autumn.

He wanted to get out.

He wanted to go _home_.

He felt like he's been here for months, years even and he missed the people he loved so much! To his despair, he was forgetting all his friends' faces, Frank's voice, even Mikey's.

_No, I can't. I have to focus._

He couldn't let his brother fade away from his memory. He was terrified that one day he would.

•••

It's been what felt like an eternity to Gerard, and for the first time, he heard a sound. It was very low at first, then it became louder, clearer.

It was a piano, a harmonious melody Gerard had heard before.

But where?

_Schubert, it's Schubert. The piano trio n°2, the one mom used to play._

Gerard loved it. It was the purest sound he'd ever heard and it stirred up old, happy memories. It filled the void inside his heart and soul.

The music grew louder and louder, it was now an entire concert of classic music that Gerard was fully enjoying.

Maybe this time off wasn't that bad after all. 

______

Months had passed and Frank was still watching Gerard with the surveillance camera he had put in the room. Sensorial deprivation was terrible, and the 'white torture' was the worst amongst them.

Frank didn't feel guilty about watching him lose his mind like that - not as much as when he was in Gerard's closet - because here, it had nothing sexual, really.

Frank actually enjoyed what he was seeing here, it was just so perfect! He felt in _full control_ over Gerard's life, and that's something he could only have a taste of when he was killing.

Frank was _almost_ turned on by what was happening behind that screen, how Gerard sweated fear and confusion. He didn't know exactly what was happening inside Gerard's head, but he knew it was a beautiful mess.

Insanity was _so attractive_ to Frank.

All kinds of pain, disturbances and mental diseases. That's probably why he loved himself in a narcissistic way - and kind of... despised Gerard less these days.

Actually, he kind of liked how respectful Gerard was with him, because that made him feel even more in control.

If only Gerard could be less whiny and stronger, not letting himself get hurt or stepped on like that all the time...

Frank was really intrigued by Gerard. Something about him screamed ' _killer_ ', and Frank was dying to prove it to him, to make him face who he truly was.

Frank also was on edge. Gerard was reacting as expected, everything was perfect, that wasn't the issue.

With Gerard in total isolation, Frank couldn't hurt him anymore. And as much as he loved watching him hallucinate, Frank knew it wasn't enough for him.

He needed to hurt someone himself. He needed to kill. He was yearning for it.

So, Frank prepared his stuff and went out. It was time for him to hunt.

______

Frank went to a bar in town to find his next victim. The night was young and there were a lot of people in the streets. Frank soon found a dark alley for him to hide and waited for someone to pass out from alcohol.

That's exactly what happened a few hours later. Frank took his butcher knife and sliced his throat. It was quick and bloody, just like Frank liked it.

He wrapped the corpse in a plastic tarp and put it in the trunk of his car. He was about to drive away when something - well, someone - caught his eye.

_Is this...? No it can't be. No fucking way._

Frank smiled. There was going to be so much fun.

______

Gerard couldn't take it anymore. The music had stopped a long time ago, and he was now hearing voices whispering things he didn't want to hear.

Sometimes, he would feel his limbs being grabbed, but then he noticed that he was all alone. He really was going crazy.

He would do anything to feel something again. _Anything_.

Gerard heard a light creaking and the door opened. He didn't know if it was real anymore.

But Frank showed up and he knew that this time it wasn't an hallucination. He never hallucinated people, or only faceless bodies. Frank untied the straps, and put the handcuffs back.

Gerard began to shake hysterically and tried to say something. Frank took the gag off. "What was that?"

Gerard panted. "P-please...h-hurt me..." he begged desperately, his voice very croaky as he hadn't spoken in so long.

Frank smirked amusedly. He had forgotten about that side effect. "Gladly, but first, I want you to meet some people."

Frank came back with two people, all tied up. Gerard paled.

Because he already knew them.


	9. Chapter 9

Frank grinned at Gerard's shocked expression. Frank had an excellent memory. He forgot names but never faces. And he was sure that he had seen these guys before, with Gerard.

The two people that walked in had their wrists tied up behind their backs with ropes. Frank harshly pushed them on the floor and they couldn't even get up.

"Gee?"

" _R-Ryan_? _Brendon_?" Gerard spoke confusedly, his voice still hoarse.

Gerard didn't understand. What was all that? Was Frank going to torture them as well? Now this could be the worst thing Frank could do to him. Gerard could endure the pain, but he could never see his friends being hurt.

Gerard saw that blood was dripping from Brendon's forehead, which meant that Frank had probably knocked him out.

"What is going on?" Brendon asked both Frank and Gerard.

"We've been looking for you, Gee. Mikey's very worried, you've been missing for-" Ryan began softly before Frank interrupted him.

"-Alright, that's enough." Frank cut and put a gag on Ryan's mouth. Frank tied the gag behind Ryan's head, he couldn't let him give Gerard this kind of information, let alone give him hope.

"Don't you fucking touch him!" Brendon growled.

"Or what?" Frank raised an eyebrow amusedly. "You're gonna start a fight?"

"If you touch him once more I swear you'll wish you were never born." Brendon clenched his jaw. "Now let us go!"

Frank laughed, ignoring Brendon's empty threats. _He's threatening me, how cute,_ Frank smiled. This was much fun to him.

He pulled Brendon and Ryan to a kneeling position, facing Gerard.

"Here are the two lovebirds." Frank spoke theatrically. "Now Gerard, I think you're gonna have to make a choice."

"A choice? W-What choice?" Gerard's eyes widened when he saw that Frank was holding a butcher knife.

"Well, I thought it'd be obvious. You never watch horror movies?"

Gerard shook his head, not making eye contact. "You choose one and I kill him." Frank shrugged. "But the other walks free. You have my word."

Gerard's world crumbled around him. He couldn't be serious. That was inhumain, even for Frank. But Frank was dead serious.

"How can we trust a fucking psycho like you?!" Brendon spat.

Frank hit him in the stomach, causing Brendon to fall on his side; and Frank kicked him in the stomach again, making Brendon groan in pain and Ryan whimper through his gag.

Frank didn't like being called a psycho. He was perfectly sane.

"I am a man of my word." Frank simply said. He turned back to Gerard and a smile reappeared on his face. "So, Gerard, who will it be?"

"I-I can't... I'm sorry..." Gerard shook his head.

"Don't be," Frank said softly. "I know you wouldn't drop a name just like that. So, let me put it that way. If you don't choose, I'll kill them both. How does that sound?"

Gerard started crying. "I can't choose... If I did, then it'd be exactly like I killed him."

"That's the whole point." Frank admitted.

"Frank stop, please." Gerard tried to remain calm. "I'm asking you from human being to human being. Please stop this madness."

' _From human being to human being_ '. Frank quietly snickered. _How touching. How naive._

"You have to understand, Gerard. People are not as benevolent as you think. It's a fucking jungle out there, it's the law of the strongest, kill or be killed. This is not madness, this is survival. Now you better start thinking, clock's ticking."

How could he? How could Gerard do that to his friends, to their friends, to their families? To _himself_? Who had the right to judge people and decide who could live or not? Who could _take a life?_

"Gee..." Ryan muffled in his gag, feeling genuinely sorry for his friend.

"Tick... tock..." Frank chanted, really enjoying what was going on.

"Gerard, take me."

Gerard looked up in awe. It was Brendon who had just spoken.

"Take me, please. I'm ready to die, and Ryan is not. One of us _has_ to walk out of this alive and I want that person to be Ryan, he deserves it more than I do. So please, I'm asking you, choose me, and save him."

Gerard looked at Ryan who was shaking his head, pleading him not to.

"Time's up." Frank informed and approached Brendon and Ryan, knife in hand.

"NO, WAIT !" Gerard shouted.

Frank froze and arched an eyebrow. "You made up your mind?"

"I-I..."

Actually, Gerard hadn't. He couldn't choose, but he couldnt let his friends die either. But Frank was expecting an answer now, so he decided to take a bold shot.

"I choose _myself_. Take me. Kill me but let them go, please. Both of them." Gerard began crying. "Please..."

Frank looked puzzled for a second, then shook his head. "I'm sorry but that's just not an option."

Frank took a grip of Ryan's hair, yanked it forward and stabbed him in the neck. He twisted the blade then tugged it out. Ryan fell on the floor, dead on the spot.

Gerard and Brendon both howled in horror. Frank walked towards Brendon menacingly.

"W-wait, don't! I choose Ryan! P-please don't kill Brendon..." Gerard cried out, shuting his eyes tightly and making more tears roll on his face. It was worth the try but he knew that it was too late.

Frank laughed. "Well that's a bit easy now that he's dead, huh?"

Gerard looked at Brendon apologetically. There was nothing he could do to stop Brendon's upcoming death, and he hated so much for being so helpless.

As to Brendon, he was seething and his face was red from anger and tears. "Gerard! I'm gonna kill you, you hear me?! I'm gonna fucking murder you! You act so kind but you're not. You're a monster. Stop fucking prentending you bastard! You and your dumb principles killed Ryan! He could have lived! He had all his life ahead and you killed him! It's on y-"

Gerard heard a loud bang interrupt Brendon, and he shut his eyes.

He slowly opened them again, he saw Brendon on the floor, his brain all over the room. His blood had splashed on Gerard's face, who started hyperventilating, not quite realizing what happened yet.

Frank didn't like guns. They were so crude and the fun ended so fast with them. Knives were so much better, but all his were out of reach, the only one he had being now in Ryan's neck.

Gerard slowly looked up at Frank, who had a pistol in his hand, and let out the loudest wailing he had ever done, tears pouring down his cheeks.

"You... You k-killed them!" Gerard uttered in a shaky voice, not believing his own words. He looked down and shut his eyes as tight as he could, making more tears fall down. He refused to see that bloodbath.

"No. I gave you a _choice_. And you didn't choose because you didn't _want to_. And when you refuse to choose, you still have made a choice. Now look where that got you." Frank stated.

He grasped Gerard's hair to lift his head and make him watch the two lifeless bodies that were his friends, in a puddle of blood.

Gerard's entire body began shaking with incontrollable sobs. Everything hurt. He wanted to die. He wanted to trade his life for his friends'.

"T-they a-are... d-dead..." He barely managed to let out, slowly realizing what those words meant. "Y-you k-killed...them" he repeated.

"No, _you_ killed them, Gerard. You are the one who let them die. You could have saved one and you didn't, because you didn't want to."

"That's-... That's n-not true."

"Yes it is! You're a killer, Gerard, just like me! You didn't need them, they never liked you anyway! They don't understand you but I can." Frank continued in a softer voice like he was trying to convince him, ignoring the boy's whimpers.

While Frank was talking, Gerard was having a mental breakdown.

_Brendon is right, I'm a monster, it's all on me. I couldn't protect them. They were my friends and they trusted me. I had the power to save one of them, but I didn't. I'm weak! I'm so weak, I deserve to die! I'm a monster!_

He felt his mind drift away, and Frank talking was just a background noise.

They were dead. _Dead_.

He was never going to see them again. Hear them talk, sing, laugh, joke. It was unfair. It wasn't even their time to go. And now they were gone forever.

 _Dead_.

The word ecoed in Gerard's mind, like a painful, irreversible truth.

Seeing that Gerard was now in shock and was no longer able to listen, Frank had no choice but to walk away, carrying the bodies outside with him.


	10. Chapter 10

Frank woke up angry - more than usual. Gerard hadn't chosen. Frank was convinced he would have but he hadn't.

Why didn't he choose? Frank gave him the opportunity to save one of his friends but Gerard didn't take it. That was what surprised Frank the most, and disappointed him greatly too.

Plus, Gerard wouldn't even have had to kill himself. Lawfully speaking, Frank did it, so Frank was the one who would go to jail if he were caught. 

So _why_? Everyone one day wished they could kill without any consequences, _right_? 

Things were dragging on. Gerard wasn't making enough progress, he was just so stubborn! Could it be possible that Frank was wrong? Was Gerard not strong enough?

_No, that's impossible. I'm never wrong. I WILL succeed._

Frank would never give up. He knew that if he wanted to make Gerard progress, he had to take it to the next stape, accelerate things.

He walked in the room, all dressed in white, as usual. Gerard looked at him. He was angry. Only slightly. But he was mostly sad; terrified too.

Frank wouldn't call it progress, but that was something. Like he thought, he wasn't wrong. Gerard only needed a little push, and Frank was the only one that could help with that. 

"I'm gonna bring stuff, don't mind me."

Gerard didn't reply. He was staring at the ground, lost in his thoughts and still shocked from what had happened the day before.

Frank could understand that. He was in that state too the first time he looked at death in the eyes.

Gerard watched him as he brought huge machines in the room. What was all that? _More pain, probably,_ he thought.

Honestly, he didn't care. He had already been through everything. Right now, he just wanted to sleep. He wanted to be left alone, curl up in a ball and sleep.

Gerard's black hair was longer than when he had first walked into the white room; it was reaching his shoulders. Frank needed to cut it for what he was preparing so that's what he did. 

Well... He tried. He took some pair of scissors and... Let's say it looked more like a bowl haircut than the nice military haircut Frank expected. With a bit of luck it would grow again before Gerard got the chance to see the result.

Gerard felt Frank put patches on his arm, and heard slow beeps that he knew too well. Why was Frank checking his heart rate? Was his life _at risk?_

"Do you have a heart disease of any kind?" Frank asked.

"N-not that I'm aware of..." Gerard replied, obeidiant as ever. He began to worry. Was something wrong with his heart?

"Good." Frank took two electrodes and put them on Gerard's temples. 

Gerard's heart rate spiked in fear and the machine's beeps quickened along as Gerard understood what Frank was about to do. _He is going to give me electroconvulsive therapy._

"Frank, wait, stop. Y-you can't. It's much more complex than stabbing people, you can't just improvise an ECT !"

Frank ignored him, to busy pressing random buttons. He began unbuckling his belt. Gerard frowned : _okay, what the fuck._

Frank took his belt off and put it in Gerard's mouth. "Bite this. You might bite your tongue while having a seizure."

_Oh, right..._

Gerard bit the leather belt as hard as he could, leaving teeth marks on it. He knew it was too late now, he knew that begging or thrashing around wouldn't be of any help - and would surely annoy Frank and worsen his case, as it usually did.

Frank turned the device on. 

The pain radiated throughout Gerard's body and he writhed in pain. It was so intense and overwhelming..

Frank turned the device off and Gerard gasped for air, but hardly managed to breathe. He started crying without even realizing it.

"Why don't we take it to a higher voltage?" 

Gerard begged through his gritted teeth. "Please, please d-don't-" He was interrupted by his own screaming as another wave of pain crossed his body. He bit the belt even harder, and felt a warm liquid dribble on his lips. 

Gerard's nose was pouring, but Frank didn't care. He was in an unstoppable frenzy.

"Fr-ank... P-please... This thing's gonna kill me..." Gerard uttered in a pant.

"No, it's not." Frank stated, radiating self-assurance.

Frank pushed the button again - longer this time. Too long, _far too long._

Gerard had the excruciating feeling that his whole body was frying from the inside. He was in _pure agony_. The pain was so intense that he passed out. 

The white belt fell on the floor in the blood puddle from yesterday that Frank hadn't had the time to clean up. Gerard's mouth and chin was smudged with his own blood.

When Gerard's screaming had stopped, Frank had too. "Hey wake up, I'm not done with you yet. Gerard." Frank slapped him. "Gerard !" Nothing. "...Gerard?"

Frank stepped back, suddenly realizing what he had done. 

_Oh no... No no no no..._

He began panicking and checked the monitors. The heartbeat was slow, but at least his heart was still beating. He checked all of Gerard's vital functions. Everything was normal. Gerard had just passed out from the pain. 

He took out the electrodes and saw that Gerard's temples were burnt. It wasn't too bad though, first degree burn at most.

Frank took all the devices out of the room, but stayed to watch Gerard.

Frank was worried. It had been hours and Gerard was still unconscious. Frank was feeling so dumb. What was he thinking, exactly? That frying Gerard's brain was a good idea? Frank went too far with him and he knew that.

Frank really hoped that he hadn't mentally crippled Gerard or put him into coma or something. He didn't want to ruin everything he had done with the kid, especially since Gerard started to become more receptive. 

It wasn't like Frank was growing attached to Gerard, _nooo_ , it was nothing like that, not at all. He just... didn't feel like doing it all over again with someone else. That's it.

It was getting late and Frank was exhausted. He left the white room; there was nothing he could do anyway. If something was wrong with Gerard, it was internal. 

In his bed, Frank started thinking. He couldn't get Gerard to a hospital, the doctors would see all his wounds and ask about them. Frank couldn't risk being arrested. He'd rather die, or in this case, let Gerard die.

Frank still fell asleep worrying about him - even thought he would rather die than admitting it to himself or anyone else.


	11. Chapter 11

Gerard woke up, but strangely, he was already standing - although floating would be more accurate. He wasn't in the white room anymore. He was home.

 _Home_. Gerard smiled. He had forgotten what it felt like to be home.

Everything was blurry and a bit yellowed, like when you look like an old black and white picture.

Gerard was surprised that he could still dream in colors and not just in black and white anymore. Since being trapped in Frank's house he had lived in a white world.

The usual household sounds seemed muffled, but Gerard didn't care. He was home.

"Nice home you have here." Gerard flinched. Frank had just appeared by his side, hands in his pockets. "I wish I ever had the same."

"What are you doing here?" Gerard growled defensively.

"You brought me."

"No I didn't !"

"Yes you did; we're in your mind. This is all a dream. You didn't know that?" Frank tilted his head.

 _A dream_. Of course it was.

"Then get out of my head !" Gerard snapped.

"I can't. And you can't make me. You don't control your dreams Gerard. Somehow a tiny part of your subconscious wants me here. I have to say, I'm flattered." Frank put a hand on his heart, smiling amusedly.

"When does it stop?" Gerard gritted his teeth.

"When you wake up."

They were cut by a muffled sound. It was coming from the other room, next to Gerard's.

Gerard frowned. "That door... That door isn't wooden. It's metallic, so why-" Gerard stopped in the middle of his sentance and his frown vanished.

"...What is it?" Frank inquired.

"I think I know what that sound is."

Gerard went to the door, and put his hand on the door handle. After a moment of hesitation, he opened it.

The sound of a piano filled the room. A woman was playing, not paying attention to them. Gerard smiled tenderly.

"She's playing Schubert again."

"Who is she?" Frank asked.

"My mother. She... She doesn't seem to see us."

"She can't. Technically we're not here. Apparently, this is more than a dream. This is a memory."

As if to confirm Frank's statement, a small chubby boy ran into the woman's arms to hug her, interrupting the music track.

Frank quietly laughed. "You were a cute kid."

"I was. I was really innocent." Gerard smiled, his eyes hooked on the scene going on before him.

"Are you still?"

"I... I don't know..." Gerard admitted. "One thing's for sure, I'm not the same as I was when I walked in your house."

They resumed listening to Gerard's mother play the piano again with the child on her knees.

"She is talented." Frank commented.

"Yes, she was the best. She taught me everything I know."

" _'Was'_?"

"She passed away when I was ten."

"How'd she die?"

"She... She commited suicide. She was... very ill. She wasn't unhappy, she was just sad by nature. Some people are like that."

The music stopped and Gerard looked back at the piano. Her mother was gone, and the child too.

"So... that's why you're so kind with everyone. You think that if you're nice enough, it'll prevent this kind of situation. That being nice to people will help them feel better so no one you know gets hurt." Frank assumed.

"I guess so."

"Well, let me tell you this. You can't save them. And even if you could, this is not your job! Save yourself! Show people your weaknesses and they will use them against you. Be kind and they will take advantage of you. Be weak and they will crush you."

Gerard didn't reply. The room seemed darker now. It was night.

"What about your father?" Frank changed topics.

"What about him?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Tell me about him."

Gerard sighed. "When our mother died, he started drinking. He hadn't seen anything coming and he was blaming himself. One day... he came back really drunk and began accusing us for her death... I tried to protect Mikey - he was already emotionally broken, I didn't want him to be hurt. My dad broke my arm. He slowed down on the drinking after that, but when he learnt that I was-... that I was gay, he... He began beating me quite often..."

Frank folded his arms. "Do you _ever_ think about yourself? I mean, you always take the blame, endure the pain. Why?"

"I-I want to protect Mikey..."

"You're gonna fucking implode. You should stop your father! He's gonna kill you one day!"

"Why do you care... You almost killed me yourself." Gerard snarled.

"I'm trying to help you!"

"No, you're not! You're just a fucking _psycho_ ; you get off to hurting people, that's it. Don't you disguise your cruelty as kindness!"

Frank's face turned red. "Why don't you open your eyes and see! It's a fucking jungle out there. It's the law of the strongest. Kill or be killed. You can't afford to be nice."

Gerard felt like he had heard him say that before. "No, it's better to be hurt than to hurt people." He shook his head.

Deep down, Gerard doubted. What if Frank was right? Were people taking advantage of him? People weren't all nice; his father wasn't. Frank was right on this.

"It's sad to say but the world isn't like that. Time to grow up."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Gerard clenched his jaw.

"I'm saying that you're just so fucking naive! And I'll open your eyes, even if I have to burn your eyelids in order to do so. I'm gonna change you, you hear me?"

Gerard snapped and grasped Frank's shirt firmly. "Oh yeah, how? By fucking _murdering my friends in front of me?!_ God, I wish I could-"

"-Could what, huh?" Frank cut. "Kill me?" Gerard bit his lips, but didn't reply. "Well, bad news, you can't. You can't alter your dreams."

"I hate you." Gerard seethed.

"Good. Now let me ask you something. You don't want your brother or friends to be hurt, right?"

"Of course not, what does that have to do with anything?"

"What would you do to protect your friends?"

"I'm ready to die for them."

Gerard never wanted to see someone he loved being hurt ever again. It was a _promise_. And he would do anything to keep it.

Frank tutted. "Wrong answer." He punched Gerard in the face, making the latter fall on the floor from the harsh blow. "Let's try again. What are you ready to do for them?"

Gerard shook his head, refusing to speak. Frank punched him in the mouth again, making Gerard whimper in pain. "So stubborn. I said : what. Are you. Ready. To do. For them." Frank spoke firmly.

Gerard knew what Frank wanted him to say. Right now he wanted Frank to stop hurting him more than anything. "I'm-I'm ready t-to kill for them."

"Very good." Frank praised. "And if your father hurts Mikey, what will you do?"

"I'll kill him." Anything for his little brother.

"And if your father hurts you again, what will you do?"

Gerard hated his father with his guts, he always had. He was just too timid to show it or to stand up for himself. But not anymore. "I'll... I'll kill him."

"And if _I_ hurt you, what will you do?"

"I-I..."

Frank kicked Gerard in the stomach and Gerard started crying. "No hesitation. You come first, you _always_ come first. This is self-preservation. And if I hurt you, you hurt me. This is _justice_."

Gerard wanted this to stop. He couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to go home - his real home - and hug Mikey. He wanted this nightmare to be over !

"I'll kill you..." Gerard sniffled.

"Say it again." Frank ordered.

"I'll kill you."

"Louder !"

"I'LL KILL YOU !" Gerard screamed his lungs out through his tears, unleashing all of his rage on Frank.

Gerard was finally being honest with himself. He realized that he wanted to hurt Frank, see him bleed. The idea of revenge was floating in his mind and appeared now so much more attractive.

Gerard's sight blurred, but it wasn't because of his teary eyes.

"Well, I think you're ready now." Frank nodded, satisfied. "Perfect timing, I think you're waking up. You know what to do if you want the pain to stop, kid."

Gerard's sight was blurring more and more until everything faded to black. He was suddenly brought back to the real world, waking up.


	12. Chapter 12

Frank woke up and practically ran downstairs to see if Gerard was awake.

He entered the room and gasped.

Gerard was awake, but that wasn't the reason why Frank was shocked.

His hair was white. _Fully white_. As white as snow and the walls around him. 

Frank's twisted mind immediately went : _Marie-Antoinette syndrome_. He swelled with pride : the cases of this syndrom were so rare that Frank didn't think it was even a real thing. Gerard slowly looked up at Frank, who felt his heart skip a beat.

_There it is. This look I've been looking for since the day I took you. Pure hatred. Not an ounce of compassion._

At that moment, Frank understood that he he had done it. He had broken Gerard. He had crushed him. His body, his mind, his soul. He had succeeded. 

Now Frank needed to tame him.

"Well well, looks like someone is feisty today." Frank teased and Gerard just glared at him like he was going to rip his vocal cords out. Maybe that's what he really wanted to do.

"I'm gonna get you your food, you haven't eaten in a long time." Frank came back with the usual stuff.

"I hope you understand, I can't take these off anymore." Frank said, pointing at the handcuffs. 

_How wise_ , Gerard sarcastically thought.

"Guess I'm just gonna have to feed you then." Frank shrugged.

Gerard peered at him to see if he was being serious. Apparently Frank was because he brought a chair into the room and set it next to Gerard's 'bed'. 

Frank set the plate of rice on his own lap and took a spoonful of it. No fork of course. Too risky.

"Come on don't be picky, this is even more embarrassing for me than it is for you."

Gerard wanted to decline, then again he was starving. "Or I could just let you starve to death here..." Frank said.

Gerard hesitantly opened his mouh, still staring at Frank mistrustfully.

"Good boy." Frank purred. He put the spoon in Gerard's mouth and he Gerard began chewing hesitantly. It's surprising how good even rice can taste when you're hungry. 

"You're making huge progress, little Polar Bear, but we're gonna have to learn how to trust each other if you want to get out one day." Frank stated as he fed yet another spoon of rice to Gerard.

Gerard rolled his eyes. _'Polar Bear'? What a ridiculous nickname._

Frank repeated the feeding motion again and again until the plate was empty. "You want some more?" 

Gerard hesitated for a second before shaking his head, not making eye contact.

Frank took the glass of milk for Gerard to drink, and Gerard had a crazy idea that could get him out of there.

Gerard drank the milk and spat it all at Frank's face, who jerked back and yelled. "Aaah! Son of a-"

Frank harshly slapped Gerard. His face was covered in milk trickling down his face and cloths. Gerard looked at Frank defiantly, bitting back a smile, and Frank punched him in the mouth.

"You fucking, ungrateful brat!" Frank seethed. Gerard held a laughter as he ran off to clean himself up.

Gerard had to hurry.

Frank went up looking for a rag to clean up his face and shirt. _How fucking childish, really. Fuckin' hell..._

He jogged around the house looking everywhere for the fabric, but couldn't find it anywhere. _Where did I put this fucking rag??_

He finally found it and wiped his face, and went back downstairs. He opened the door and he felt that his heart had dropped.

Gerard was _gone_.

Frank took a few steps forward to take a look at Gerard's seat and paled. The handcuffs were bloody, and the ones for his ankles were torn off. 

No, it was impossible. Frank would have heard Gerard leave the room, and Gerard couldn't have gotten out without coming before him, could he? But if he hadn't left the room, then-

Frank suddenly felt a heavy mass fall on him, interrupting his thoughts. 

Gerard had hidden behind the door Frank had left open and when he had gotten back, Gerard had attacked him from behind.

Frank was struggling as Gerard was trying to strangle him with his forearm. He was holding a knife but Frank wouldn't let him get the chance to use it. Something red caught Frank's eye during the struggle and his eyes widened as he understood what had happened.

_Gerard fucking ripped off the skin on his wrists and hands to break loose of the cuffs. What the fucking hell?!_

That was sick, even for Frank - without mentioning the fact that it must have hurt like hell; he could almost see Gerard's bones. Frank could never do that; he could never hurt himself, that thought sounded insane thing to him. His persona was sacred.

That made him wonder : _how far could Gerard go?_

Frank was lacking air and fell on his back. Gerard pinned him down, straddling his hips. He put the knife on Frank's throat and stare directly into his golden eyes. Gerard wanted to slice his throat then and there. But should he? Could he?

"Do it." Frank uttered, slowly articulating every syllable. "Kill me now if you want to. Kill me if it makes you feel _better_."

Frank was testing him. He really didn't want to die, in fact. And seeing that Gerard was hesitant, he decided to do the only thing he could do in his delicate position that could _maybe_ make Gerard back off and give him the opportunity to knock Gerard out.

Frank leaned forward, ignoring the knife that was digging in his throat and the blood dripping down his neck.

And he pressed his lips against Gerard's as softly as he could.

Gerard's eyes widened and he froze. Goosebumps erupted across his body and he shuddered, all kinds of emotions wrecking his mind. He dropped the knife in utter astonishment. 

That wasn't exactly what Frank was expecting but that was enough for him to knock Gerard over. Frank straddled Gerard's waist and tried to immobilize him by pinning his wrists, but Gerard had quickly come back to his senses and was putting too much of a fight. 

Gerard managed to shove Frank with all his strength and slip under Frank, escaping from his grip. 

Gerard opened the white room's door and ran. Well, he tried. 

All this time without exercising at all or even budging, his knees had repaired themselves but what Gerard hadn't planed is that all his muscles had greatly atrophied. He was physically in no condition for a run, or even for a jog.

Gerard was already breathless as he got to the stairs. He stumbled and clambered them as fast as he could.

He arrived in a corridor. Everything was so dark compared to the white room; he could barely see what was before him. He wasn't so accustomed to darkness anymore. 

_A door. Daylight? Freedom! Finally!_ Gerard trudged, slowly making his way to the door. 

But Frank had caught up with him.

Frank tightly wrapped an arm around Gerard's neck stopping him short, and quickly injected him a sedative. 

"NO!!" Gerard yelled in despair and frustration. He was so close! Gerard tried to thrash around but Frank was out of reach and managed to keep an iron grip on him. 

Gerard wanted to scream, throw punches and fight, but he suddenly felt an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion wash over him.

"Don't fight it, don't fight it..." Frank soothingly slurred in his ear. Gerard could sense Frank's hot breathe on his neck, making him shiver.

The room started spinning around Gerard and he collapsed backwards. He felt Frank's arms wrap around his chest supporting all his weight, and gently bringing him to the ground; everything went black.


	13. Chapter 13

Frank had to make a decision.

He scooped Gerard into his arms with ease and carried him back in his cell. 

_God, he's so light..._

Gerard had probably lost a lot of weight, after mostly eating rice and milk.

Frank set him on his chair and took the broken cuffs off of his ankles. He cleaned up and disinfected the boy's bloody wrists and hands, then cautiously bandaged them. 

Frank knew he couldn't hold Gerard much longer; the boy was litteraly willing to break his bones to get out, and Frank didn't want him to harm himself more. 

He sat down and pensively watched Gerard who was still unconscious. Was that... _pride_ Frank was feeling? 

He started thinking. Gerard was ready, at last. He was a cold-blooded killer. Well... Not quite. Gerard still had hesitated when it had come to kill him, but Frank perfectly understood how hard it was to take the plunge. 

Frank would have to help him with that. But how? How could he push Gerard over the edge without getting himself killed like a few hours ago? 

First things first he needed to gain the boy's trust. He couldn't build any kind of relationship without it. Right now Gerard hated him with his guts - which was understandable. But hatred was a way to start.

Then, Frank thought about that moment, when he kissed Gerard. He didn't... not like it. Actually he wouldn't mind doing it again. 

He smiled. _Gerard didn't pull back._ Frank didn't get why back then, but now he did.

Love and hate are not incompatible, actually they are quite similar because they are both united by one thing : passion. The opposite of love is indifference, and according to what had happened, Gerard felt everything but indifferent towards Frank.

Now what could make Gerard so angry that he would kill someone? 

Frank recalled the night he took him and about what he had witnessed. Frank knew a lot about drunk dads, and he knew it would only be a matter of time until Gerard's father hit him again. That would surely be enough for Gerard to kill him - he probably had been repressing a lot of rage for a long time judging by the bruises he was covered of when Frank took him.

But for this to happen, Frank needed to make the most difficult and risky choice.

He had to let Gerard go.

______

Gerard woke up with a terrible headache because of the sedative, and the lights weren't helping. You would think that he would have gotten used to it over time but he never had.

Gerard was back in the white room and was growing desperate. His plan had failed and Frank was now going to be much more careful. Gerard started to think that he would never get out of here.

Then Gerard noticed in awe that he wasn't cuffed anymore, and that he had bandages on his sore wrists.

_What? How?_

Gerard got up and silently got out of the room. He slowly climbed the stairs on tip toe and made his way through the dark hallway. He hesitantly opened the door. 

A kitchen. Gerard looked around, on his guard. On the shelves were dozens of bottles of milk and rice packets. They were probably meant for him. _How long_ had Frank intended to keep him locked up?

Then Gerard saw that there was a gun on the table. Gerard didn't even bothered wondering why. He took it and checked if it was loaded like he saw in the movies. 

_Frank is reckless. Well, too bad for him. It's gonna be the death of him._

Gerard looked everywhere for Frank. He had been distracted last time, he had been weak, but now he was ready. He was going to make that psycho suffer like he did to him then put a bullet in his skull. 

But of course Frank was nowhere to be found. 

Gerard passed by Frank's bedroom. It was quite wide, and there was a wooden wardrobe, a nightstand and a double bed as sole furniture. 

Gerard helped himself and took a grey hooded sweater in Frank's wardrobe. He didn't want to walk around all dressed in white, pale, injured and probably looked like a psycho.

Gerard decided to go home. He got out of the house, keeping the gun with him.

Outside, he was outside. He was free!

The bright colors and the noise of the world assaulted him : the blue cloudless sky, the birds chirping. It seemed to him that he was far away from civilization though, as he found himself in what looked like the countryside.

Gerard noticed that the leaves on trees around him were tinted with copper and gold, which confused him. He had absolutely no idea of which month it was.

Gerard was ecstatic nonetheless - elated, even. He was enjoying every breathe of fresh air he took. It was a bit chilly so judging by that, it was March or April. Gerard really hoped he could celebrate his birthday with Mikey.

Right now, Gerard just wanted to lay on the green grass and appreciate the sunbeams on his pale skin and the wind brushing on his hair. But he had to restrain himself; Frank could still be around and Gerard wanted to go see Mikey anyway.

Gerard was out of town; he didn't know where he was or where to head for, and all his weak limbs were already aching, so he decided to hitchhike. 

Yes, it was risky, then again no one was more dangerous than Frank, and Gerard really needed to get out of here.

______

Gerard strolled along the only cemented road, thumb up.

Eventually, a black car stopped and Gerard hopped in the car. The driver was a really young and thin man. He had dark messy hair and pale blue eyes. His tattooes made Gerard think of Frank with a shiver. Gerard gripped the gun in his pocket to reassure himself. He told the man his address and the man nodded. 

"I like your style, dude. All white like that, it's cool." The man commented with a little smirk.

Gerard sheepishly thanked him, thinking that he was just referring to his clothing. 

"I'm Andy, by the way."

"Gerard. Hey, I know how weird it's gonna sound but... What month is it?" Gerard managed to sound casual and confident. 

"What month is it?" Andy laughed, still looking at the road. "Why, are you a time traveller or something?" 

Gerard kept a straight face, waiting for an answer, and Andy chuckled.

"We're mid October."

Gerard's heart dropped. _Nine months_. It had been nine months. Mikey probably thought he was dead. 

Gerard was 18 now, he was an adult.

Where did the time go? Gerard was so angry at Frank for stealing those past months away from him.

"You okay? Hey I was thinking, you didn't escape from a mental asylum, did you?" Andy grinned. "I mean, the clothes, the bloody bandages... You know, even if you did, I could help you..." he smiled roguishly.

"No I-I didn't..." _Well, not exactly_. "But thanks."

They ended up talking about music and they happened to have the same music taste. They eventually arrived at Gerard's house.

"Thank you Andy, really."

"No problem. I don't live too far from here, maybe we'll meet again." Andy winked and Gerard nodded.

Gerard turned back and he exulted when he saw Mikey on the porch. But his smile quickly dropped when he saw who he was talking to.

Frank. 


	14. Chapter 14

Gerard felt his face turn red from anger. _Why the fuck is he here?_

Gerard was also very scared. What if Frank had decided to hurt Mikey as some retaliation because he had tried to kill him and had escaped? He needed to make Frank leave without provoking a bloodshed.

Mikey noticed Gerard and ran toward him. He basically tackled his brother into a hug and started crying. Gerard didn't. Yet he was so moved, and he didn't know why but he just couldn't cry. 

Gerard noticed Mikey had changed a little. He had grown up and wasn't wearing his glasses anymore. His hair seemed darker, like Mikey had dyed it.

"Gee!! Oh my God, I missed you so, so, so much! I'm so sorry, please never leave me, _ever again!_ " He buried his head in Gerard's shoulder and just wouldn't let go of him. "I was worried to death, I thought I would never see you again..." he sniffled, his grip tightening a little.

"Hey, hey, Mikes." Gerard soothed. "I missed you too baby brother. I'm sorry, but-"

"Your friend told me about you running away." Mikey interrupted. "I understand why you did it... Just, don't leave me again okay? I was terrified, I-I thought you were dead, I even went to the police and talked to a detective..."

"Wait, hold on. My friend? I- What?"

"Well, Frank. He came just a few hours ago and told me how you wanted to go away from dad and all that and how he lodged you. You could have called me, I know Frank lives in the countryside but still..."

Gerard's eyes widened. "You met Frank? Was he- Did he..."

"Don't worry, he's very nice. He speaks highly of you. You seem very special to him." 

Gerard clenched his fists as Frank was joining them. _What is this mascarade?_

"Mind if I join you?" Frank asked politely.

"No, er- I wanted to thank you for taking care of my brother." Mikey said. "Hey why don't you stay for a while? At least stay the night? Our father's not here right now, he's at work. And when he comes back he won't even notice you're here. Please, that's the least we could do." he offered.

"I'd love that" Frank smiled warmly.

"Whoa, wait! Nobody's staying the night." Gerard growled. "Frank, a word?" Gerard faked an innocent smile and dragged him inside the house. He almost threw Frank inside and locked the front door behind them so Mikey wouldn't come in.

"What the fuck are you doing here? I swear, if you hurt Mikey-"

"-Swearing now, are we Polar Bear." Frank teased. "Hey, that's my sweater!"

Gerard took the gun out and aimed for Frank's head, who put his hands up by reflex. "Shut up or I blow your brains out."

"Go ahead then. Pull the trigger." Frank took a step forward, pressing his forehead on the barrel with defiance in his eyes. "Good luck explaining to Mikey the bloody mess that my brain will cause, and how you shot your _friend_ ".

Frank was right. Mikey wouldn't understand, and Gerard didn't want to lose him.

"You're not my friend." Gerard spat.

"You're right, I'm not. I'm your _ally_."

"Oh yeah?" Gerard sarcastically laughed and hit Frank's face with the gun's grip, making Frank collapse on the ground. His nose started pooring.

Gerard gave him a kick in the ribs. "This is for all your victims." Another one. "...for Ryan." Then another one. "...for Brendon." And another one. "...and this is for me!"

Frank curled up in a groaning ball, holding his stomach. His lower face was now covered in blood.

"Damn it feels good." Gerard snarled. 

Frank let out a painful laugh as he slowly got up. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to keep himself from snapping Gerard's neck. 

_No one_ had the right to harm him, let alone make him bleed. But this was Gerard. Frank had made him what he was today. Gerard was his perfect creation, so Frank could make an exception. Besides, he really needed to get Gerard on his side.

"Are you done yet?" Frank panted and Gerard didn't budge. "So as I was saying, I'm your ally. Don't you understand? We're the same now."

"I'm nothing like you." Gerard calmly said, but inside he was boiling up. He wished he could tear Frank apart.

"Yes you are! This anger you've been feeling? I feel it too, _everyday_. I can help you control it, use it. I just need you to trust me, or at least... not to kill me. Please. I don't want to hurt you - well not anymore. Give me a chance."

Frank was right about everything. Gerard either was angry at everyone or he felt nothing, he felt empty. Maybe Frank could understand him after all... It was worth the try. If things went wrong, Gerard would just kill him. He put the gun back into his pocket.

"I... I guess you can stay the night." he said reluctantly.

"Thanks." Frank cleaned up his face and unlocked the door.

"Hey, what were you two talking about? You kinda locked me up outside." Mikey went in. He looked at Gerard, then Frank, then Gerard, then Frank again. "Wait... Are you two... A thing ?"

Gerard blushed hard. He was genuinely outraged that his brother could even think that. Mikey obviously had no clue of what was really going on. "W-we are not 'a thing'... I-"

"Hey Gee, it's okay. Plus, I'm in a relationship too." Mikey winked. 

"What? Mikey, that's awesome! Who is it? I hope they're nice." Gerard hugged Mikey, completely dismissing Frank's presence.

"His name is Pete, and he awesome and so sweet!"

"Well, he better be."

"And I'm happy for you too Gee. First boyfriend!" Mikey ruffled his brother's hair, thinking that it would make him giggle, but apparently Gerard wasn't in the mood. That was unusual.

Frank smirked. _Well well, he never had a boyfriend huh?_

Frank began having a vague idea of how he would tame Gerard.

"Mikey, we're not- we're not together!" Gerard frowned abashedly, obtaining a laughter from his brother.

"Yeah, whatever... Anyway you seem, uh, different. Like, stone cold, and uh, grumpy. Did you finally hit puberty?"

"Mikey..." Gerard warned.

"Okay, okay... Talking about changes, Frank warned me about it but... You know, if you wanted to look like George Clooney or Richard Gear, maybe you should've tried something more.. greyish. It's the silver fox effect, not the polar bear effect..."

Frank laughed in his sleeve. Gerard frowned. _What is he talking about? Polar Bear? Wait.. Frank called me that once._

This couldn't be a coincidence. Gerard hurried in the hallway and looked at himself in the mirror there, and gasped. What had happened to his hair??

"Don't worry, it looks good anyway." He heard Mikey shout from the entry.

Gerard hurried back there, grasped Frank's shirt and dragged him in the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

"What happened to my hair?" he seethed.

"Marie-Antoinette syndrom." Frank shrugged like it was obvious. "It was named after the last French queen whose hair suddenly whitened the day before her execution. Basically your hair whitens because of a great deal of stress on a long period. It's definitive."

"You- What?!" Gerard punched him in the mouth. Frank shoved him away and clenched his fists.

"Hey I can be patient with you, but I'm not your FUCKING PUNCHING BALL!" he yelled. He was about to punch Gerard back when Mikey entered the room. 

"Oh sorry, I thought you guys went upstairs. When you two are done making out, Frank, you can settle in Gerard's room. It's upstairs, down the hall."

Frank kept himself from answering that he knew. _Officially_ , it was the first time he came here. 

"Mikey, for the last time, we. Are not. Dating." Gerard pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "We were not making out, just... Talking."

"Oh yeah? Then why are Frank's lips swollen?" Mikey smirked before leaving, not even waiting for his brother's answer. 

Mikey was teasing them but deep down, he was worried. He had heard them shout, which made him start doubting. Were they dating? Were they even friends like Frank had asserted?

Something was wrong about this whole situation, but Mikey couldn't put his finger on it.


	15. Chapter 15

Frank settled in Gerard's bedroom. Now he just had to wait for something interesting to happen.

He went downstairs and introduced himself to the boys' father who just came back from work, and barely spoke to Gerard even though he had been missing for nine month and his dad should have been worried sick. _What a despicable man_. Frank knew that if Gerard didn't kill him, he would be happy to.

He sat down on the couch to read a random book.

Mikey and Gerard were talking in Mikey's room. Well, Mikey was, mostly about how great Pete was. _He must be deeply in love,_ Gerard thought. _That's great, he deserves to be happy._

"You should see Patrick, he has changed so much! He misses you too, you know. Ray too."

"I bet," Gerard smiled. He missed them to and really wished things could get back to normal, that he could forget all the pain Frank had put him through, but he couldn't.

"And, uh, there is something you should know... About Brendon and Ryan..." Mikey looked down, tears whelming in his eyes.

 _Yeah, about that._.. Gerard felt a lump in his throat. Memories of Brendon and Ryan's murder flashed befoe his eyes and he started feeling sick.

He couldn't tell Mikey the truth. The truth would destroy him. Moreover, if Gerard told him, he would also have to tell him about Frank and his abduction, and that would freak Mikey out. He would call the police and things would go sideways. Gerard couldn't let that happen.

"They... They are missing. I-I'm so sorry.. They disappeared like a week ago. They had no reason to leave like you did, they were happy with each other. You know, I told you Pete works for the police?"

Gerard nodded.

"Well according to him and to the police, they were abducted, but it happened near a bar so all the witnesses were most likely drunk, so they've got nothing tangible."

Gerard didn't reply. He couldn't tell the truth but he didn't want to lie and say that things were going to be okay, that they would come back, because they wouldn't, ever.

"I'm sorry, I know how close you were to them." Mikey put a supportive hand on Gerard's shoulder.

"I-I'm- I need time..."

Truth is, Gerard had already had all the time he needed to grieve and say goodbye. But he needed to pretend for his brother.

"Sure. I'm here if you want to talk." Gerard smiled and got up. "I'm gonna take a shower." he mumbled.

He went in the bathroom and took Frank's sweater off, then his shirt, tossing them aside. Fortunately, Frank's sweater had hidden his scarred body from Mikey. Gerard winced when he took the bandages off his wrists. The flesh around his wrists was almost bare. He had to admit, it was nice of Frank to have taken the time to bandage them. Gerard didn't understand why he did though, it just didn't make sense.

Gerard stood in front on the mirror on the wall, tracing his finger along the many scars covering his torso. He traced with his fingertips the mark of all those months of agony and torture. The cicatrized scars were even paler than his porcelain skin, and so sensitive.

Gerard bent forward and slowly ran a hand through his short, snow white hair. He would need time to accustom to this new appearance that was so foreign to him. The man he was looking at just wasn't him.

Mikey walked in the bathroom, interrupting Gerard's contemplation. Gerard gasped and threw a towel at him.

"Damnit Mikey! I told you I was going to take a shower!" He snapped.

Mikey stuttered an apology and scurried out of the bathroom. Gerard's torso. Mikey saw it and it was covered in huge scars. Where were they from? Gerard could never do that to himself, he wasn't masochistic. Then how? Who?

Gerard got out after his shower all clean and dressed, and Mikey was still waiting outside, needing to talk to his big brother.

"Hey, sorry for yelling at you... I kind of act like a dick since I'm here, sorry..." Gerard apologized.

Mikey shook his head. "It's okay."

"No, really, I'm sorry..."

Gerard felt terrible. He didn't want to lose Mikey. He took Mikey's wrists to get his attention, but Mikey hissed in pain. Gerard frowned and rolled up Mikey's sleeves. He had bruises all over them.

"Mikey, where do these come from?" Gerard's frown deepened.

"It's- it's nothing." he rolled down his sleeves, looking away.

"Don't tell me that this is-" Gerard stopped in the middle of his sentence and hurried backstairs to face his father who was on the couch, and took Frank's gun out his pocket.

"You..."

Frank was reading a random book when he saw Gerard arrive and take his gun out. His plan was working perfectly. _Huh-uh, showtime_ , he thought and stood up from the couch.

"...are going to pay." Gerard simply said. He seemed calm, too calm.

"Son, what are you doing?" his father stood up and put his hands up. He didn't seem to take his son's threat very seriously though.

Gerard sneered. It was the first time in years that his father had called him 'son'. Now it sounded so phony.

"Hey what's going on?" Mikey walked in the room and gasped. "Oh my god Gee, is that a gun?!"

"Mikey, look away. Today our father's gonna pay for everything he's done to us." Gerard cocked the gun. "This is _justice_." He spat, glaring at whom was once his father.

"This isn't justice, Gee. This is murder." Mikey spoke quietly. "We'll bring him to justice, detective Ballato will make sure that this bastard goes to prison, but this? This just isn't right."

Frank cautiously placed himself betweek Gerard and Mikey to prevent any kind of incident. He knew that Mikey could potentially stop his brother, so he decided to push him on the ground and ordered him to shut up. Gerard didn't budge to that, he was too focused on his father, aming for his head. Everybody had stopped breathing.

"Do it." Frank ordered.

" _What?!_ Frank, what the hell?" Mikey fowned at the other man.

"He can't. He doesn't have the guts" his father mocked.

"Dad, for your sake, I suggest you shut the fuck up." Mikey demanded. "Gee, don't do it. Please, please don't." Mikey begged, still on the ground.

"Gerard, do it! For everything that he has done to you. To Mikey." Frank raised his voice.

"Gerard wait! This isn't a solution. Think about the consequences."

 _Shut up, shut up, shut up!_ Gerard just wanted them to shut up.

"DO IT!" Frank yelled.

"GERARD NO!"

"NOW!"

It was now or never. Gerard yelled and pulled the trigger.

His father's brain splattered all over the wall and his blood was now pouring on the floor. "Goodnight motherfucker." he seethed.

"NO!!" Mikey screamed and jumped up to tackle Gerard, but Frank grasped his collar before he could reach his brother and shoved him violently into the closest wall. Frank pressed his forearm on Mikey's neck, living him very little air to breathe. Mikey squeezed and clawed his arm but Frank didn't move a bit. He was just too strong.

"You're a real pain in the ass, you know? I think you should go," Frank took a knife out of his pocket.

"G-gee... Pl..ease..." Mikey managed to let out, and hardly turned his head to his brother, pleading him for help.

"Don't." Gerard quietly spoke to Frank, still staring at the corpse in the room, his gaze empty of all expression.

"What? But-"

"Don't." Gerard repeated, now directly looking at Frank menacingly.

It wasn't a request, it was an _order_. Frank understood when his eyes met Gerard's that it was the line that he really shouldn't cross. Plus, Gerard still had a loaded gun in hand and he had just killed someone. Frank pulled back, leaving a breathless and shocked Mikey to slide on the floor again, gasping for air.

"Stay down." Frank ordered before taking Gerard's hand and dragging him out of the house to his car.

Mikey stayed on the floor and after a few minutes, he grabbed his phone and called Pete. He didn't know what else to do. He was shaking all over, it was a miracle that he even managed to dial Pete's number.

"P-Pete? C-c-can you come here? P-Please..." he stuttered, his wite eyes hooked on his father's blown up skull.

_"What is it? You sound upset."_

Mikey began sobbing. "Something b-bad happened.. S-something... r-r-really bad" he hiccupped, his voice breaking.

_"I'm on my way."_


End file.
